One question I get all the time is, why nursing? And for a while I simply answered, “Well at one point I wanted to be a veterinarian, and then I realized I liked people more than animals.” But the thing is, I have realized that nursing is where I belong.
The 16 Personalities describes a typical ENFP as someone who would say, “Can't I fly helicopters and be an oceanographer who writes songs and cooks?” According to 16 Personalities, it's a big world out there – perhaps even a little too big. ENFPs are fascinated by new ideas, both in terms of developments in fields they are already familiar with, and when new subjects come along. The trick for people with the ENFP personality type is to take advantage of this quality, this wonder with the magnificent breadth and detail in the world, and to use it to propel themselves further and deeper than others are willing or able to go. If there's a challenge ENFPs face when selecting a career, then it isn't that they lack talent or options or drive, it's that there are so many things out there that are just cool.
The thing about nursing is, you can go anywhere, literally anywhere and be a nurse. In the military, nurses are some of the few military members who go into the military with the same job, and leave with the same job. Nursing is so multifaceted and able to be utilized everywhere, it's unbelievable. You can work at Disney as a nurse...if you have two years of experience. Universal Studios hires nurses with one year of experience. Disney also hires nurses for their cruise ships. How cool is that?
There is a whole branch of nursing called travel nursing, where you literally get paid to travel around the country and work at a bunch of different hospitals. You get a stipend for housing, and whatever you don't use, you get to pocket. It's the perfect job for those with wanderlust who don't want to stay in one place for long periods of time.
I've worked at camp as a nurse, I've worked on a TV set as a nurse and I've pondered flight nursing or volunteering on a Mercy Ship. Being a nurse is a perfect job for people who can't sit still long enough to pick just one thing they like. Hence why Emergency Medicine is my thing. You literally never know what is going to walk through the door, so you have to be well versed in pretty much every area of nursing. The ER is one of the few places you can have a 30 day old infant in one bed, and a 80-year-old man in the next. And the funny thing is, they might be there for the exact same reason or for very different reasons. It's a daily adventure in the ER, and I wouldn't trade it for the world. That's kind of why being a camp nurse worked for me. I was a one-woman ER, triage nurse, clinic nurse or whatever I needed to be. It was unpredictable, exciting and helped me gain confidence as a nurse. As an ENFP, it could not have been better.
I was an ENFP even as a kid. I played soccer for 10 years, and during those 10 years, I played everywhere on the field. Right side, left side, striker, midfielder, defensive midfielder, defense, sweeper and even goalie. I liked being able to play everywhere on the field. There were definitely positions I was better at, but I liked being the “jack of all trades, master of none.”
Flash forward to college, when I discovered the sport of triathlon. Three sports in one, and our team’s motto is, “Why be good at one sport when you can be average at three?” Once again, “jack of all trades, master of none.” Apparently, that's pretty typical of an ENFP. You like being able to do a little bit of everything...even if you spread yourself a bit thin along the way.
In high school I wanted to swim for my high school, do color guard, play soccer for my school, play soccer on an outside league, be in musical theater and do choir...all at once. My mom nixed that idea, partially because she still had to drive me to all of these places before I got my license. When I complained, "But Mom, I want to do all of these, why won't you let me?" Her wise response was, "Because there isn't enough time, and you still have to do homework." She was right. Without some sort of impulse control, an ENFP will literally sign himself / herself up for way too many things. Somehow I made it through nursing school while also balancing a part time job and competing with our club triathlon team. Was all of that necessary? Nah, but I enjoyed it and it helped me with time management. Sometimes, all an ENFP needs in order to get stuff done and not procrastinate is the knowledge that there is less time available. If you know that you have other stuff you have to get done, then the homework and other assignments somehow end up getting done as well. Hence why the ER and nursing worked. You have to be able to balance many different things at once and keep track of them all. That's just how it is. It's mostly unorganized chaos and that's the way I like it.
